I’ve never been a comic book guy. My thing was always science fiction books. My closest approach to comics was the Marvel and DC tv shows I saw as a kid. So, I never really had a reason to buy any. But my policy on right wing artistic and commercial endeavors is to always give them the benefit of the doubt when they compete on the Left’s turf. I decided to pick up Avalon #1 to see if I could understand what it was all about. A comic book is like a book chapter with pictures. You tell a piece of a story and try to hook the reader in for the next installment. The story and the art work are of equal importance. Well, to me they are. I guess if you’re really more of an art lover then the pictures might be the main attraction. But I don’t think that would work for me. There’s got to be a story I want to hear.

I’ll make this short because I don’t have the background to talk any nuance about comic books. The story is introducing a world where people with superpowers are a fact of life and not all of them are good and not all of them are heroes. We meet a small cross section as we are primarily introduced to King Ace and Fazer. They are close to the classic vigilante super hero like Batman or Superman. They fight crime outside of the prescribed legal framework that superheroes adhere to in this world. They do it according to their code. Well, for the most part. Some hints of a less selfless motive do show up in the book. The story is good. It’s set up as Fazer telling his story to a reporter but the action bounces back and forth between narrated action and other events that give additional information on other characters and other plot lines. I like the art work but I will not claim I know much or even anything about the state of the art in comic book aesthetics.

Long story, short I think it’s good. I look forward to the next installment. I won’t say I’m hooked but I’m interested enough to want to see where this all goes. Bravo Chuck Dixon and good for Vox Day for venturing into enemy territory.

Many years ago, I think comic books were my gateway drug leading to true books. I loved Uncle Scrooge of the 1950’s and early 60’s and truly wish I had saved my collection. Never was a Marvel fan and never read much in the graphic novel genre. Except, I somehow discovered and really enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series and still have the entire series squirreled away somewhere.

“What’s the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel?” I’m not sure but I’ll guess that it has to do with adults buying graphic novels and so the price will be a lot higher. Is a graphic novel like a collection of comics and includes the whole story instead of just a chapter?